Skeggs....

So it turns out I have trails right out my front door.....so I jumped on my Singlespeed today....oh wait, you have to do some climbing to get there...

So you have a whole lot of this......


a few nice views....





Than some more of this and so on, in fact this part of the road winds up at pretty steep grade for 4 miles before it hits the intersection of skyline, which you then continue to climb up. I dropped three roadies on tricked out bikes on the way up.




Anyway way 10 miles and 2500 feet of climbing later you get to the good stuff!

Whiskeytown 9 to 5.....Now Testify!!!!

So last week I headed up North for the Whiskeytown 9 to 5 8 h r race. Nothing but good times. I opted to Single speed it- not sure why, after doing the Wilderness 101 on the single speed I thought I was going to be done with single speed enduro’s. I guess I wanted to race against the guys from Lake Sonoma, where I ve been racing ss.

I met some cool people as soon as I rolled into the venue, people were all about saying hello- I was greeted by Mat, who I met at lake Sonoma the week before, I met Ron and Jen from TGR and a whole bunch of single speeders.

9 AM rolled around and we hit it. The race goes right into the single track, and it goes up, and more up. I tried hanging with the big dogs in the front but the single speed made me blow up pretty quick so I decided to put things into check and get into my grove.

I let one single speeder pass me on this climb and he got away from me for a bit. He was attacking pretty hard on all of the climbs, but I was realing him in on every descent, and that was how I would play it for the rest of the day, using my east coast skills . By the middle of the second lap, I was rubbing his tire on all of the technical trails. Right before we entered the most technical part of the course (which I thought was pretty technical for a race even by PA standards) I attacked hard on the climb and let it rip on the down hills. That was the last time I would see a single speeder for hours.

Every lap ended with some of the sweetest single track in California. I really looked forward to it every time, but it was followed by the beginning of the next lap and the toughest climb, which soon became the walk of shame.

Lap 7, on the fire road climb I saw a single speeder grinding away midway on the climb....he didnt look like he was enjoying it....it was Fritz. I was pretty pumped to catch him as he beat me in the last 2 Lake Sonoma races..I caught up to him and it turned out he was having some ankle problems and was going to call it a day....i was bummed, i wanted a fair fight to the end...oh well, maybe next time.

3:40 PM rolled around and I found myself pushing my bike up a really steep hike a bike section, following this dude on gears and a beginner young woman who we were passing……it was right before the end of the lap and I yelled out “once around? “ to the guy infront of me…..”hell no” he yelled back, the girl replied “ but its 20 to 4!”, “Yes, Yes it is I replied”.

You see the thing is this isn’t like your standard enduro, if you don’t finish your lap before 5 PM it doesn’t count- and nothing would suck more then a lap not counting, but i contemplated for a bit....not going out would be straight up chicken shit.....quiting.

I rolled through the pits at 3:50, this would give me an 1 hr and 10 minutes to throw down another lap. I already had one lap that was an 1hr 7 mins and I was tired.. so there was some doubt tha I would finish I hit the climb hard, and it bit back pretty hard so I changed strategies pretty quick and got of the bike to conserve energy.


I rolled up to the top of the climb to begin the lonely lap….cue the bad religion on the iPOD, “The paper said that he hit the ground running, Oh yeah, you know Im not broken, a little cracked, but Im not broken”

focus set in and I hit the longest down hill of the course at mach one, scaring myself on all of the turns….almost blowing it on a few turns, but holding tight, up and down I hit the last length single track climb, exposed backing in the sun and pushing, behind was roger, the SS leader about to lap me, I tried to hang on but I was spent. Back into the fun whippy single track. I was pushing so hard on the short steep climbs, that my arms and toroso were cramping. I had to man up and shake it off to focus on the downhills. The end was near, I bombed down a fire road and hit the last hike abike section, followed by the last techy single track section. I rolled into the trail and over a rock pile, my legs and arms went to crap and I lost it. I was about to tip over and fall into a ravine. I had to take an evasive action so I turned the wheel down the ravine to ride it for a few feet. This gave me some time to bail over the bars and land some what on my feet…..any way I cursed a bit picked up my bike and rolled in to the finsh…..thats about it……oh and I came in 4th place in the Single speed class, top ten overall….the SS class pretty much hosed everyone…..good times…ill be back.

Movin' on up.....

No, no, no....i know what your thinkin....so I raced today in Northern California, up in the wine country on my single speed. Well they don't have a sport single speed category so I had to race with the big dogs. I thought about racing my single speed in the regular sport category with the geared guys but I started thinking, in the enduros I can keep up with the best of them, and well I have actually spanked, on occasion, much faster Elite and Expert riders....So lets do it right???


Well I got hosed, the course was beautiful, with a lot of climbing. After getting bit in the ass at a race earlier this year by gearing too low, i decided to gear on the hight side. This proved to be a bit of a mistake. There was some serious climbing. After the First lap I contemplated quiting it hurt so bad. After a crash I lost one of my water bottles, and thought i was going to eventually run out.


I never rode the course and was racing with the fast dudes on a rigid so i decided to enter the single track last, which i have never done before. Turned out I could really rip on the down hills, I was able to pull out of last place and pass a few single speeders and one guy on gears. This was good enough for me. I was able to pull off at the start/finish area and refill a bottle, which was crucial.

Afterwards it was beer and burgers on the race promoter. Pretty freakin cool. A cooler full of beers and a 1/6 Keg of something that i was really into..Turns out the beer in the Keg was brewed in someones garage. I couldn't believe a home brew would taste that good. Good times, i am glad I got out of bed today.

So I came in like 8th out of 10 Single speeders and in the overall Expert Category i was mid pack (this included all of the Experts, Pro and SSers) I can live with that, next time we are going to be a bit more aggressive.

Old La Honda Beer Experiment

The Friday morning work ride kicked off in full force today. Last night I had a theory that if I took Fast Joe out for some beers it would slow him down on the 4 mile climb. I figured my liver was more mature and I would ride much stronger with a hangover then he would since I have raced under such conditions much more often. Well since Joe was driving I drank twice as much as him and that probably didn't help.

We kicked the 3.4 mile climb off at pretty good pace, I felt good and was waiting for joe to fall apart. We dropped the rest of the group and Joe wasn't budging. I finally fell to piece's blew up and Joe pulled away. Ryan ended up realin me in in the end. It was good time. Its great to be able to ride with people from work. We had a pretty good turn out today, 7 Strong to include my boss, which was surprising since everyone was being lame yesterday and said they were not coming.


The intern man'd up and showed up in sneakers and flats. I gotta give em props, cause the roadie geeks can be intimidating with all of there flamboyant matching lycra. He hung pretty strong with the flats and down tube shifters.

Wilderness 101

I think if I do this race again next year, we are going to have to make a few mandatory upgrades to the Niner like maybe one of these-




Or even one of these, you know.



Seriously that was a bitch to single speed, I was either in excruciating pain trying to climb long Fire Roads, or getting passed on really easy down hill fire Roads, by dudes with gears. The niner was killing it on the single track though, as I probably passe about 15 people on different technical Down Hills only to be sucked back in on some stupid fire Road.

Oh and It was Hot and Humid- Which a I think Contributed to me not enjoying the Single Speed Climbs-but enough complaining.

It was good to see some friends, I got to ride a little bit with Buddy, a few seconds with Kieth and a few of the dudes from the IF crew. Sarah and Rob Caught up to me at about mile 30 or 40, Riding the tandem on one of those annoying down hills. They were pulling a train of about 5 other riders and I heard rob Screaming my name and to jump on. I gave it my best and almost got in on the draft, but spinning a 32 19 there was no way in hell I was going to be able to hang. It was fun to see the Tandem ripping by. Anyway I caught up with them at the aid station and got out in front of them. I didn't want to be beaten by a tandem team, even if Rob was driving, but well they eventually caught me @ Mile 90.

A few horrible climbs and sweet gnarly descents later I ran into Mike Y. He looked like I felt, I think the heat was getting to a lot of people. I kept moving. Mike and I went back and forth for a little bit, mostly because I didn't stop at the aid stations. I would walk up a gnarly climb and then he would catch me. He stopped at the last aid station and waited for me and offered to roll in to the finish with me, That was nice, We rolled over a narrow bridge crossing a creek and there were kids swiiming, we both looked on in envy, we almost stopped. I was able to hang with him almost all of the way in but i eventually blew up on one of the climbs and let him roll on out.

Anyway the last few miles were pretty much flat after that and I rolled on in crashed next to the Keg, put my hand in the ice bucket and dropped the Ice down My jersey. After a half of a beer, i went down to the creek which was Ice cold and layed down, That felt really good. Cleaned up went to get dinner loaded up my plate and almost puked, so i laid my head down. I could really eat for a few hours, so naturally I drank beer.

I hung a bit with Jason and The Bikeman crew, Huber and Buddy and a few others. The party was rolling pretty late and ended with keg Stands, Even Harlan got up to do one. (no sign of Bishop and Tinker)

So i finished dead in the middle of the single speeders that started and 89 out of 173 Men with a time of 1034. It was an expereince to ride this type of course on the one speed, but I think I would have had more satisfaction if I rode the gears and placed significantly higher.

The Rattling Creek 50

First off, I have to say that it so cool to be rockin the trails in PA after Being on the West Coast for the last 2 months.

So I had to come back east to take care of some personal business, and the timing allowed me to hit up the race. Since I just finished building up my new Niner single speed I decided this would be the bike to bring from Cali. I never did an endurance race on a single speed, let alone one with a rigid fork so I was a little nervous.

We rolled out and the Beaner Crew Settled into a little peleton on the first single track section and fire road climb. We were also joined by Keith R. From Bikesport and Jamie B. riding for South Mountain Cycles.

I thought I was going to be in for some trouble when we hit the first steep fire road climb, it started getting steep and my heart rate was going through the roof trying to hang with the boys, but I saw Keith and Jamie get off and push, I figured they knew better then I did so I pushed too. It Flattend out and everyone began to pull away, I figured no sense in spinning at 1000 RPMs, so this was a good time to recover and get ready to get into my grove as they all pulled away


Once I re-entered the single track I was on fire. All 8 Pistons were kickin hard. The flow was going , the 29er was rolling over everything and I was finally being rewarded for my low tire pressure. I caught a few guys on gears right away, they were dicks about letting me pass. After droping these dudes I rolled out and caught Chris D from beans. I think this was also a first for chris doing an enduro on a SS, he let me by, a few minutes later I rolled up on Evan and Dave from beans and they let me pass by and the engine continued to fire. I rolled by Keith who flatted, asked if he was OK and Rolled out fast, figuring he was going to real me back in.

It seemed no matter how smoked and unmotivated I was on the fire roads and paved sections, I would do a complete 180 on the single track and start to haul ass. After a few miles of gravel and some climbing I saw a group gaining on me that I dropped in the single track. I really didn’t have the gears to get away from them on the gravel flats and down hills, and I was thinking these guys are going to slow me down in the single track. Well they got ahead of me as we started to climb, this time they were joined by Dan from Sicklers. I saw the course marshal guiding us to what would be the most technical single track of the race, so I put the hammer down and cut off the leader of the pack and got in first again. It felt like a dick move, and I wondered how stupid I would look if I ran out of gas and they had to pass me, Especially with Dan right behind them. Dan moved up to Expert this year and often put 15 to 20 minutes on me at any given race when we rode in sport. Well I got in and floated over the first rock garden and didn’t look back, but I heard a bunch of metal crashing and yelling and its seemed that I made the right choice. Dan seemed to make his way through the carnage and stayed about 50 feet back. The more and more rocks that were thrown at me, the bigger the gap I put on him until eventually he was gone.

As we neared the end of the single track I could see the Green colors of the Independent Fabrications Kit. I started to close in on him a bit until we hit the double track climb, he pulled a way for a bit, but towards the top of the climb it turned to single track and Mark let me pass on by as he took a break. I think he was having a bad day. Nonetheless it was enough to motivate me to keep on turning the cranks.

More rocky single track and the there was Jamie, fixing a flat. He had everything so I put the pedal down hoping he would catch me. 20 Miles to go and there were 3 guys behind me who I know had the ability to crush me, so there was no time for mistakes or hanging out at the aid stations so I kept the cranks movin.

10 to 15 miles to go I rolled into the Last aid station with two empty bottles, I refilled pounded some Gatorade and began to roll out as fast as I could. Mike Y. was checking numbers, I asked if any beaners rolled on through and he said that Ben just rolled out. Damn! Could I catch Ben? Another fire was lit on my ass so I charged back into the single track on a mission, methodically turning over the cranks until I rolled on to the pavement. As I exited the Single track I saw Keith Roll on in, to start the single track. It was comforting to know that I had a big gap on him. On the pavement Austin was directing Traffic and let me know that it was ¾ mile Climb on the black top before heading off road again. It was a hot brutal climb, I could see the guy in front of me wobbling back and forth on his geared bike as I closed in. Half way up the climb I looked over my shoulder, there was no one behind me with 7 miles left to ride. After that it was pretty much down hill all the way to the finish, where I placed 6th out of 21 single speeders and 17th overall out of 97 starters. No a bad day for my first single speed marathon.

Car Free!

Well Almost, I rode into work 4 out of 5 Days last week and today I decided to setup the fixie with a Rack and a Sweet pannier that can hold a lot of stuff. Believe it or not I can still get my laptop in that bag with it full of essentials.



Once Erin gets out here i think I will be officially Car Free, since she's selling her car and will be using mine.



Ive really been enjoying riding the fixie to work, its a flat 4 mile ride with one short Bridge to climb. Its fun to zipp around the local streets it really flows. Oh yeah, thats Rob's old bike, but you might no recognize it as i through a some paint on it.

Just got done watering down the Horses...

This is one of the reasons I am so stoked about my job.....we got a stable. Did a pretty cool ride on the Single Speed tonight up at Skeggs point. I decided to leave the bike at work, cause well, we are probably going to ride tommorow....

Pedro Heads West

Well, about a week ago I loaded my car down with everything I thought I would need in California. The first thing I did was load my car with 4 bikes. After loading the bikes I tried to fit in stuff like underwear and maybe some ramen noodles. I figure it would all work itself out in the end.

First Stop Mohican 100

Well I left PA on Friday morning and ended up in Ohio early in the afternoon. I set up my tent and was quickly invited to join some other campers to hangout and drink some beer. This was a good start to my trip. I met folks from all over. I was blown away to meet a guy who drove from Texas, who was planning on hitting every hundred miler in the series. Anyway the race started in the morning, with a big pro presence. It was cool to see Chris E. Harlan and Tinker at the start. The first 30 miles of the race consisted of some killer single track, I couldn't believe Ohio had so many cool trails.

95 miles later the race ended for me in the rain hammering through the deep sloppy mud. The last half mile ended up being a sprint for the finish on the road with another riderr. It was pretty painful going all out after riding all day. Beers and food followed. I was happy to meet a whole bunch of riders by the keg after the awards ceremony, Jason from bikeman and a bunch of Ohio Locals threw it down hard. I also linked up with Topher, Keith, Bob and Harlan for a few beers. Hopefully I will get to see some of these face at the E100 In Salt Lake this year.

Chicago

After Drinking way too much in ohio I packed up to see my good friends Dan and Isabel in Chicago. Its a cool town, we drank beers and hung out at the dog park. I got my hands on a Fat Tire, signs of the west. Thats all I have to say about that.

Iowa

People in Iowa seem a little naive. I didn't stay very long.



Burrito Hunt
After Ripping through hundreds of miles of corn fields I found my self back in Colorado Springs, in search for the worlds best burrito. I blew by every rest stop, ignoring my hunger to save my self for a burrito from Chipotle. I had been waiting for this moment for 4 years. When I arrived there were over a hundered people waiting outside the place. It was bring a can of food in exchange for a burrito day. So I blew it off and went to the Mexican joint across the road.

After refueling I headed up to Cheyenne Canyon for some single track, it was sweet. I climbed about 5 miles of dirt road and single track that switched around. I was still smoked from the Mohican 100 so,I didn't climb all the way to the top but after about an hour of climbing I turned around at about 7000 Feet for some Killer descending.










During the ride I realized I needed a cable replaced so I headed to the Bicycle expereince in Colorado Springs. They were already closed but the guy new I was on a trip and hooked me up for a quick change out. Housing, Cable and Labor, he only charged me 10 Bucks.

After maintenance issues were resolved, I rolled in to my favorite drinking establishment, Bristol Brewing. I used to live down the road from here, they have some killer beers. This is where I linked up with Fat Lou who let me stay at his place for two days.



The next day I headed up to Golden, CO to ride some single track with some peeps. I started getting a little dizzy as I was driving up the road to the trail head.





The scenery was beautifull and the trails were awesome, fast down hills followed by technical switch backs. I had to dismount on a few rock sections as it got a bit tricky and steep.






After some killer riding I finally made it to the mecca of burrito joints. It was better then I remember. It was marvelous



Utah

I made may way through Wyoming, where I almost got blown off the road. 60 MPH winds tipped over tractor trailers and cars, so it was slow going for a while on the interstate until the winds died down and a blizzard ensued. Pretty crazy getting caught in the snow in June.

I linked up with Alex, who gave me the grand tour. We rode this trail that was a pretty smooth switch back up the mountain. It was unseasonably cold and we were underdressed. It had also snowed at the top, so we only made it about half way up before we decided to head back. We were freezing and with 5 miles of downhill to get to the bottomm we knew it was only going to get worse. The trail was awesome though. We climbed for about an hour and descended for what seemed like 20 minutes.








Making my way to California, here is a picture of some cool salt flats on the Nevada/Utah border. Driving through Nevada was pretty cool



Im chillin in CA right now just checking out the sites.

Disaster at Granogue

I have been waiting for this day for over a year now. Over 2000 base miles logged in for the season, a top 5 in the Camp Hilbert endurance race, a Top 3 at Leesburg Baker's Dozen, one of my top goals for the season was to go out and crush it at the MASS Enurance opener, to top that this would probably be my last MASS race, so this was important. I set the race bike up with a brand new Set of Maxxis Ignitors, they stuck to the greasey mud at granogue like velcro.

Last night we went out to a graduation party, that had an asian theme. Erin's Aunt Judy pretty much always goes overboard on these types of things. You see they had these killer Korean Ribs that she has to drive 30 minutes away to pickup from a shop that only sells ribs to Korean Americans, so she has to camp out in the parking lot until she runs into a stranger who speaks English and Korean and then has to beg them to go inside in pay for them. I guess thats life in Princeton.

Well anyway a few hours later I started experiencing some explosive diareaha, about 2AM I headed out to pick up some medicine from WAWA. As i approcahed the cashier things weren't feeling right. I could tell I was going to blow chuncks, but I was really hoping the make it home. I drove for a bit, but had to pull over open the door a blow some chunks, I did that a few times, but I was paronid a cop would pull up and want to investigate a DUI so i tried to keep driving with the window open. I let it rip one more time, but out the window. It should be noted that things down below were not looking to good either. Anyway,after hosing the car down at 3AM, that was pretty much it for the evening, I figured I would have to Bail on the endurance race. I was really pissed. When I woke I decided to head on down, and if things would hold out I would race. I got to the race rode around and things seemed ok, so i was going to give it a try. The race kicked off and everyone took off, I let the top 10 go, usually I can sprint with them, but i figured given my status i would make it a race of attrition. Turns out It just wasnt happening, I start falling to the back of the pack, i was winded on all of the climbs and soon the entire sport class would pass me. After that I finished my lap went to my car and laid down for about 30 minutes. I thought for a bit, i never really quit anything before and it was pissing me off quite a bit. So i saddled up and headed out for 2 more extremely slow laps, Its was quite a humbling expereince trying to keep pace with some of the slowest riders in the field, riders who have laps on me, riders who i can usually lap multiple times.

It is what it is, the course was beautifull so i stayed positive and enjoyed the ride and tried to mingle as much as possible with others. I particularly enjoyed it when the Expert Women kicked off. Oh i hung with them for a while, believe me ;) Another reason I kept on going was that regardless of the place I came in, I would score points for the Team competition. All enurance points are counted regardless of when you come in, as long as you finish.

After finishing I rolled up to my car, changed and grabbed a cup, as the Beaner Keg had arrived. I layed down on the grass and told tall tales of my epic day in the saddle while sipping on some victory.

On The Rocks

French Creek was a blast this weekend. First off let me say that it was awesome to see everyone again! For me it started out with marking the course on Saturday, with the Bean's crew. We headed out on the trail around 5:30, and soon found ourselves getting soaked in the rain. We pushed on putting up arrows and tape and the rain didn't let up. Before I knew it, I found myself riding with mike in the dark and in the rain with no lights, the epitome of Zen. It was kind of sketchy riding those trails, clearing rock gardens and logs that you really could not see. After climbing our soggy asses up the last big climb, we beat it on the road and headed to the bean's camp where we were welcomed with food and some beverages from our sponser Victory brewing. We were joined by some other friends and definately blew it out harder then I really needed to.

I woke up pretty sore from the wet night epic and a little hung over-but racers were about to arrive and I had to get everyone parked in the limited space..That seemed to work out fairly well, I liked that job-you get to talk to everyone, but everyone thinks the parking nazi knows whats going on-

The Race

I lined up with the Sport S2 guys, it was good to see some friendly faces. We took off on the fire road climb to the single track, Kevin from sickers started to make a break and I went after him, I put about 20 yards on him and hit the single track first,immeadiately passing the last S1 racer. Kevin was right on my ass. I probably didn't need to go out so hard, but oh well too late now. I let Kevin pull ahead for a bit, but I kept him in check and was able to keep the gap tight on the down hills. I was starting to regret riding the night before and drinking all that beer. I was suprised to look over my shoulder and see Matty mo hanging on after all of the bitchen Ive heard from him on hour training rides. He closed in for a bit and we started to pass some more S1 Riders on the down hill, I took the bad line to pass and matt followed.Mistake #1 It totally derailed us and resulted in a crash, Kevin was no longer in sight, So i put the after burners on and was able to shake Matt off my tail. Perhaps i got a little bit to aggreseve but Mistake #2 came along and resulted in a wicked crash and battle with a tree, this put me down for at least a minute and really killed my momentum. Matt wizzed by as I dusted off and tried getting back on the bike, cramping ensued-but I fought it off. 5 minutes later and i was able to start kicking the throttle full again as the pain of the crash disintigrated. As i Hit the Fire Tower Paved Climb, I could see Matt about 100 Yards up the Road, he didn't look like he was enjoying himself, I looked over my shoulder and saw the pack behind me, not where I wanted to be. Shocks locked out I started to stand up and let it rip, About half way up the climb I caught Matt. He responded by staying on my ass. I was able to put a gap back on the pack and as We hit the first false peak, I was able to pull away from Matt for a bit. I was back in the game. The road leveled out and I let it rip, I think I was able to get out of sight for a bit, but it wouldn't be for long, I threw it in the big ring and started ripping it up, but someone must have crashed through the course markings and ended up following the S1 guys in front of me......Mistake #3as we sat there with dicks in hand, there was matt again, We fumbled around for at least 2 minutes before navigating back to the trail. I pushed on again and started to get out of site for a bit. I got to the woooden plank bridge that ran over a real mud section, when another S1 rider just layed his bike down in front of me....damn this was a really fast section and now I was Picking up my bike and running across the thing cramping up...more time lost and you may have guessed I got to reunite with matt again. I tried like hell to put the gap down again, but matt started to reel me in on the Last Orange Climb. At this point I was sitting in 3rd Place when another rider past me, putting me into 4th. I let him pull away on the climb but once we got to the top I started to pull him in. I could clearly see I was a better decender. Every downhill i got closer and closer. Finally i was able to pass on a techy section, it was big ring from here on out, I hammered down with this dude only 2 seconds behind me when some wicked branch caught my bike, it hit me like a rubber band and stopping me dead in my tracks....i got lucky cause the guy behind me caught it too, I remounted a put the hammer down and was able to finsh third. The last mile of the race was quite the wicked sprint for third place. My legs didn't let me down, but it was a real crappy performance with all of the crashes and missed turn. Regardelss I was very happy to beat all of the riders from bikeline and guys racing that crushed me last year. I hate these short events, Im looking forward to the marathon at granouge next week!

The Beaner's

The beaners kicked some serious ass this weekend, preliminary calculations may put us at least a thousand points above bike line with 6 Podium Finshes! Not bad with a lot of our crew not racing.

Leesburg Baker's Dozen

I headed down to VA this weekend to try my first 13 hour Solo race. Hung, with Jamie, Ted and Dean, as well as a big crew from Bike Line and the Spot crew, I saw the Carters on the start line as well as topher and company I went back and forth with Jamie, topher and some other dude that hangs with topher for a few laps, got a little help with my wheel from Austin but I didn' get a chance to link up with Mike C.

A big thanks to Fat marc for hooking me up with a coke when I needed it, It totally turned my race around.

The race started at 11AM, about 5 PM i decided to check the results, turns out I was sitting in 5th place out of 30 somthing which was my goal. I totally planned on chillen and taking long breaks for the remainder of the night cause I was smoked. But around 6 PM or so, I caught some wicked second wind and hammered down a superfast lap, that put me into 2nd place. I couldnt just chill now, as darkness fell I tried to keep consistent lap times, I fell into 4th place. I think I was about 8 minutes out of 3rd, my body was wearing down. at 10 PM I was only a few minutes out of 3rd and again at 11PM with only one hour left in the race.

I never made the podium before in any race and I knew this was my chance, I headed out without making a pit, after 12 hours of riding I gave it everything I had. I passed mulitple riders on 2 and 3 person teams, halfway thorught the lap I passed what I think may have been the Solo Rider ahead of me and took third place...... His lights quickliy faded to the rear and I continued to peddle as fast as i could...it was kinde of crazy,allmost midnight and i was actually racing not just trying to survive I ended the Lap at 11:50, Not really sure where I was, and not sure if the guy behind me was going to chase me I headed out for another lap as the post race party began....this was the lonely lap. I was the last one on the course but, when I rolled in to finish the lap and the race I clinched 3rd place, which is the best I have ever done in any race. Everyone was already showered shaved and kicken back eating pizza by the bonfire. I rolled up still in my gear and hit the pizza.....now that was kick ass!

The Road

Dan: "I don't need no Stinkin Electrolytes"



Bob hits the Climb (He's confued by the deraileurs)



Cody clears Alpe de Huez



The only one to keep me company on the way home.....

Quantifying improvement

I have had my new Garmin Edge heart rate monitor now for almost 2 months and I am starting to see some results. You don't need a high tech piece of equipment to train, but it sure does make it easier to do things right. Last year I used a very basic HRM and after a while I stopped using it. The Edge makes it very easy for me to maintain target Heart rates during workouts and gauge how well the workout went. Below is one of my basic interval workouts, one from Yesterday and the other from a few weeks ago. the Interval consisted of 6 minutes in zone 5 followed by 2:30 rest repeated 4 times. After a few weeks i have gotten a little bit better. Time to step it up.

Camp Hilbert VA

We headed down to VA for some racing action this weekend, very nice. Iwas fortunate to have the company of two very cool riders from PA who kicked some ass and It was good to actually get on some dirt with all of the snow we had this month up north. I opted to sign up for the 5 hour race. We were 30 strong at the start line and we were set to head off one minute behind 30 sport riders. I wasn't planning on taking off fast but with 60 riders on the trail I didn't want to get caught up in the carnage. The starting siren rang and I tore off with the lead seven riders like it was a short track race.

We ripped by dozens of sport riders, which I thought was unusual. On the first lap my heart rate started climing from 175 to 180 to 188 and it stayed high through the 2nd lap, I actually taped the side of the HRM a few times and adjusted the strap on my chest as I have never seen my heart rate stay so high for so long. After a few laps I settled in. During Lap 5 I had a horrible crash. I think I was zoning out when my front wheel went off of a ledge.
I sumer salted over the bars hard and the bike launched into a tree, I was sure that if wasnt hurt bad that the bike would be toast. I got up dusted myself off and adjusted the levers on my bars and I was off. I was able to chase down one more rider and secure a fifth place finsh. 48 Miles of single track and sunshine, a good day. Time for some recovery.

Discharge!

After 4 years of active duty service and 4 years of inactive service in the Army I have finally received my honorable Discharge. Many dudes I served with got yanked back, and a few made the ultimate sacrifice. For those who are still serving I salute you!

Recovery........

The Sky Is puking snow right now, and as much as I would like to be tearing it up on the mountain bike Friel has ordered me to rest.......so after a little spin on the trainer for some active recovery its to time to indulge......

On a Long and Lonesome Highway, West of Emmaus

Yeah... I Iike the Metallica version.....After completeing my saturday morning ritual of drinking massive amounts coffee, i began to apply the layers for a February Road ride...
I left the house at 10 with plans of riding up to Emmaus to meet Dan and Company at South Mountain Cycles for a road ride. As I made my way down my street I linked up with two riders, from the neighborhood that I have never met before. We chatted it up for a bit and I told them of my plans to meet Dan at SMC, Jacob asked if he could tag along, Sure no problem.

Jacob was pretty much a pure roadie and could really put the hammer down, we made our way up Rte 29 and 27 Miles later we were at South Mountain Cycles. We rode the Powder Valley loop and in between some of the big climbs I got to chat it up with Some people that I hadn't had the oppurtunity to talk too. Jacob linked up with John and they talked about some roadie geek stuff. It seemed like worlds were coming together today. After the group ride was finshed, we headed back home. Taylor gave us a much better route for the way home. It was way more scenic, had way more climbing and was loaded with Zen. Zen and pain, Jacob really turned the screws on me. It was 35 degrees and I was sweating like a hoar in church. After 5 hours and 45 minutes of riding we hit the intersection where we met and went our seperate ways......now its time for some beer.

Early Season Race Schedule

Milestones for March, April and May.

11 March Camp Hilbert 5 Hour Race VA
21 April Leesburg Bakers Dozen 13 Hour Race VA
29 April Greenbrier Challenge Marathon MD
06 May Michaux Maximus 50 Miler PA
13 May French Creek XC PA
20 May Granouge Marathon DE

Early Dismissal

I got some looks from the neighbors today, its not too often that I get to ride in daylight midweek, but we were released from work due to the dangerous driving conditions.


I got home and jumped on the bike, the roads by my house were clear but as I got closer to the farms it turned out none of the roads were plowed which added to the fun and intensity of the workout. Prior to leaving I suited up with some wool socks, chemical toe warmers, my sidi shoes and two pairs of outer booties. The wind was blowing something fierce as I passed the corn fields.

I headed down to Spring Mountain where the lifts were turning and the locals were enjoying some of the goods, I started to head back to the house, as I made my way up a hill a guy shoveling his drive way cheered out load and yelled " all right yeah man dedication woo hoo!" I guess he must be a rider also. Time to drink some well deserved cheap Canadian beer with a side of bacon.

2007 Training Plan:Drinking Beer and Single Speeding

Im begining my second year of Racing and I pretty much threw the Mountian Bikers Training Bible and my Heart rate monitor out the window....actually I just can't seem to find the heart rate monitor, so i need to buy a new one. My strategy is to make training as enjoyable as possible, so Instead of freezing my ass of on the road I have been putting in high volume on the dirt, mostly on the single speed.

Ive been on the Single speed for 5 months now, all dirt miles have been without gears. It seems to be working out well. Today was the first day i busted out my geared race bike. What a wild feeling going back to the gears. My latest aquistion is picutred above.